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Here is the message

I can't believe it; I actually have been sent a message that accuses me of bringing up something that is based on Rumor, not FACT.

Here is the email we got from MOA:

"Dear BMW MOA Chartered Club Leaders,

As the 41st Annual BMW MOA "Beemers, Bigfoot and Blue Skies" International Rally returns us to the fantastic roads of the Great Northwest, Chartered Club Recognition Awards are expected to be highly valued and contested. To assure a fair accounting for these awards we will be asking Chartered Club Leaders to assist their clubs by bringing along some basic club information verify your standings.

For the "Largest Chartered Club at the Rally," "Club with Largest Percentage of Members at the Rally," and "Largest Virtual or Special Interest Chartered Club," we ask that you or your representative bring along a current roster of your club's Members in Good Standing, along with a "sign in" list of members present. (That roster can be either in hard copy or "memory stick" type formats.) We also encourage you to let your members know that they will need to "sign in" with you during the Rally. Since administration of these awards will not be done during registration, this data will have to be brought to the Awards Booth (in the BMW MOA Building) by 1:00 pm on Saturday of the rally. A comparison of the two lists will stand as a verification of your club's entry for validation by the Awards Committee.

Yes, we do understand that this is laying yet another burden on your leadership responsibilities, but we want to insure a fair accounting for these prestigious awards.

Along those lines, we ask that you remind your members that they will also need to register at the Awards Booth for the other awards. Appropriate documentation will be necessary when they apply for their award. That documentation could be as simple as your driver‘«÷s license and motorcycle registration, or a copy of the birth certificate for an unlicensed passenger (other documents to prove age for children can be documents such as library cards, school ID, passport or something that has their name and birth date on it). The ‘«£good‘«ō thing is that we will be using Google Maps as our standard for mileage awards. For Tour Awards, appropriate gas or lodging receipts, local rally registrations, or even those certificates of speedometer calibration issued by law enforcement agencies will do the trick. A GPS that tracks distances will be accepted with receipts proving key points.

Your cooperation will go far in assuring the accuracy of the awards presentations and your leadership credibility within your Chartered Club. Earning an award at this years‘«÷ BMW MOA ‘«£Beemers, Bigfoot and Blue Skies‘«ō Rally in Salem, OR., will be an honor like no other. Individual awards lend validation to your accomplishment, and Club awards attest to the camaraderie in your group worthy of bragging about!

Your own clubs either are NOT reading their email or are not communicating well.

I posted this initial topic here, to inform those affected, as well as into the private "presendential" section of the MOA forums, so that that clubs could potentially discuss this. We Can Be Part Of The Solution, if you would let us. But that topic was removed, so instead of this discussion being amongst the clubs, I suppose it is up to the members, who belong to various clubs by choice, to address these issues with the MOA at large.

Virtual Reality

Originally Posted by CHROMEHEADS274

Here is the pertinent text:

If rally attendees don't know this requirement in advance, how can they comply? And how can you expect every club to have a dedicated "formally check in here" location at this rally, unless that was provided for in advance? We didn't know we should be prepared to provide a "physical clubhouse" on the rally grounds for a Virtual Club.

I would like to see more clubs involved in the decisions that affect clubs.

The Registration form does not contain information used for calculating any of the awards for the 2013 rally. A representative of each virtual club that wants to be considered for the virtual club award will need to go by the Awards booth in Columbia Hall to sign-up the club and present documentation of members at the rally.

Good points have been raised in this thread. Don and Marilyn, Awards Co-Chairs will take what has been said in this thread as they determine the best and fairest way to identify the largest Virtual Club in attendance at the rally.

The June BMW Owners News will contain an article on how each Rally Award is determined.

The Registration form does not contain information used for calculating

I know that for the registration form, years ago, a determination was made (and we were given plenty of notice about it) to limit the form to only 2 club association lines. You got to enter your main affiliation, such as a local club, and then a secondary affiliation, such as a model-specific or virtual club.

I don't belong to a club but do belong to the MOA and the Airheads, so I guess I do belong to a club just never thought of it that way. Dumb me.

I think if any of us are getting that hung up on this type of an award, then maybe its time the award was dumped. Other than beer bragging rites, what does it accomplish! We all have to look at the bigger picture and don't sweat the small stuff.

True, but if you walk up and register and indicate your a member of Airheads Beemer Club and they don't find you on a list and "deny" your membership, while it doesnt' really matter a hill of beans, it kind of is a slap in the face that you belong but you don't "belong". I've always just written "214" on the form at the registration tent and moved on. Aren't we all good citizens and BMW people? What, me lie??

So, now that I think about it. the MOA itself is a virtual club and should probably win for the virtual club with the most members. the MOA is a recognized club. what is the MOA club number to enter on the form? Who from the MOA is going to verify membership for Tally and Awards.

Seems pretty straightforward

There still appears to be some confusion here. There is NO information taken from the registration forms to be used by the Awards and Tallies committee. The only way Awards and Tallies committee get information is if a club leader, however you want to phrase that, approaches the Awards and Tallies booth in the MOA building and reports in. These requirements are not new, they have been the case for several years, although it sounds like there has been some confusion. It appears Mr. Hamblin's message was an effort to deal with this confusion both here on the forum, in the Rally section of the MOA website, and soon to be in the BMW ON. I for one can't think of any other way to get the word out to the membership.

If you want your club to be in the running for an award, you should go to the Awards and Tallies booth (not registration) with a list of your club's membership and a list those members are at the event and do it prior to the Saturday afternoon deadline. It seems they are willing to accept and hold your club's sign up sheets there at the booth for your club members and/or you can do the groundwork yourself to ensure completeness. Seems pretty straightforward.

Why not use the registration forms? I can think of at least one good reason. The amount of time and effort to simply do the data entry, much of it for clubs that are nowhere close to being in the running, is a large waste of effort and a big expense. This way, only the clubs that are interested and feel they have a shot at an award are involved, and most of the work is the club's, which is how I believe it should be. Too many of us forget this is a volunteer based club and seem to expect "someone else" to do the work. If no one in the club is interested enough to take the ball and run with it, then that club won't be considered.

I'd like to thank Don Hamblin for taking on this committee job, and applaud him for his effort to get everyone on the same page of understanding how the Awards and Tallies work.

This is certainly news to me. I can see for awards such as oldest rider, oldest combo, farthest distance, etc....sure go by the awards/tallies area. But for what club you belong to?? That takes no extra time...I do all the work...there's a spot for it on the form. Why has it been on the form for umpteen years if it's not being used?

This is certainly news to me. I can see for awards such as oldest rider, oldest combo, farthest distance, etc....sure go by the awards/tallies area. But for what club you belong to?? That takes no extra time...I do all the work...there's a spot for it on the form. Why has it been on the form for umpteen years if it's not being used?

News to you doesn't mean it's not been the case for several years. That's probably why Don put out the "reminder" as to how it's been done, due to some folks still not cognizant of the details. As for the club awards, there's no requirement for each member to go by the Award's booth. If a club leader gets everyone in attendance on a list, they can turn both the membership list and attendance list in at the same time. I know from personal involvement that the Indy club has done it this way since it was required. One of the Indy members takes it upon himself to bring a list of members, and to write up a list of the members in attendance, then turns it in to the Awards and Tallies booth.

Unfortunately I can't answer why it's been on the registration form for umpteen years. Someone thought it was a good idea at the time, and it's not been removed. I can imagine when there were only 600 riders showing up at the National things worked a bit differently, but as you're well aware, times change and some things don't keep up or the fall through the cracks.

Virtual Clubs

Like Chuck said earlier, the email's are a courtesy and award "rules" will be published in an upcoming issue of the BMW Owners News. And as a current / former BMW MOA / Chartered Club Officer and President (along with having been a BMW MOA Rally participant since 1977), I have found myself not being armed with everything I should have when showing up at events. So we on the Awards Committee want to be as sure as we can that nobody is left out in the cold if we can help it. We also want to be sure that awards are judged as honestly and fairly as possible. So after discussing these "rules" with a number of interested parties, we have "cleaned up" the process:

"Virtual or Special Interest Clubs" would be those clubs that carry on the majority of their activities via an internet website or email list. *While they might have a number of face-to-face activities, the majority of member interaction is in a virtual setting. *

Understanding the vast differences encountered with clubs that do the majority of their member interaction in a virtual setting, we will ask that a club leader / moderator / list owner / representative assist in compiling a a list of their members in attendance. *We can have blank sign in sheets available at the Awards Booth for your members to sign in, and individual club representatives will be responsible for assuring their members have been signed in either with them or at the Awards Booth prior to 1:00 pm on Saturday of the rally. A membership roster will not be required for virtual clubs. *

As loyalty is an important benchmark of the BMW MOA community, rally participants will be allowed to register as a member in attendance of only one Traditional Club and One Virtual Club." *

We are hoping that this will make applying for an award as enjoyable, painless, honest, and fair as we can.